"A bolt of lightning literally hit a house, and the rains came down, and we raced in our carts back to the clubhouse," Dodson says. And shortly after that, the promise of those clouds was fulfilled. Shortly after that conversation took place, James Dodson and Eric Trump teed off behind the foursome that included Donald Trump. ( Update: Eric Trump has denied saying this about Russia.) We just go there all the time.' Now that was three years ago, so it was pretty interesting." We’ve got some guys that really, really love golf, and they’re really invested in our programs. We have all the funding we need out of Russia.' I said, 'Really?' And he said, 'Oh, yeah. He said, 'Well, we don’t rely on American banks. It’s dead in the water the last four or five years.' And this is what he said. You know, no one’s funding any kind of golf construction. "So when I got in the cart with Eric," Dodson says, "as we were setting off, I said, 'Eric, who’s funding? I know no banks - because of the recession, the Great Recession - have touched a golf course. "And when I first met him, I asked him how he was - you know, this is the journalist in me - I said, 'What are you using to pay for these courses?' And he just sort of tossed off that he had access to $100 million." "Trump was strutting up and down, talking to his new members about how they were part of the greatest club in North Carolina," Dodson says. Dodson was a little late arriving, and by the time he entered the Trump National Charlotte clubhouse, his host was already holding forth. When the big day arrived, a dark, gray sky provided the first sign that all would not go as planned. I would play with Trump and Greg, and then we would have a big lunch and hear all about the club." And then we would swap at the nine holes. "I was gonna play with Eric, his son, a local congressman and the guy I assumed was his bodyguard. "Greg Norman was gonna show up, and he and Trump were gonna play the first nine of the course," Dodson explains. Joining Donald Trump at his new course in North Carolina meant juggling those plans.īut, at his wife’s urging, Dodson agreed to leave their home in Southern Pines, North Carolina and drive to Charlotte, site of the recently reconstituted Trump National Golf Club Charlotte, in order to meet with The Donald, who was not the only star attraction. From there, the Dodsons were headed to Scotland for some golf. Dodson and his wife had arranged to visit Arnold Palmer at Palmer’s home in Latrobe, Pennsylvania. And Dodson probably wouldn’t have regarded the invitation as an imposition if he hadn’t had other plans. That was a little more than three years ago. And he hadn’t a clue who I am.' Anyway, he called three or four times. "And he kept saying things like, 'Oh, Donald Trump loves your books.' And I kept saying, 'Donald Trump doesn’t read books, I’m told. "This PR guy kept calling me and inviting me," Dodson says. Which, as I’ve suggested, wasn’t Dodson’s idea. And maybe he thought that’s all there was to know about Donald Trump. So James Dodson, who grew up a Republican but currently describes his political stance as "radical centrist," knew that. was to find a financially distressed property, buy it, keep it in bankruptcy, do a half-a-million-dollar renovation, fire the entire staff and hire a third back." "I knew Trump was very interested in golf," Dodson says. Though they hadn’t met, Dodson was aware of the fellow’s impact on the game. That’s no doubt why Dodson was sought after as a playing partner and luncheon guest by the man who said until quite recently that one of his primary jobs was making golf great again. As a reporter and author he’s won numerous awards for his writing about the game, and he has been associated with many of golf’s greats. James Dodson has played golf since childhood. Or, so I like to imagine.įor better and worse, the game has evolved. Golf began when a couple of Scottish shepherds with low-tech clubs thought it might be fun to bat a rock around a field until it fell into a hole. (Ian MacNicol/Getty Images) This article is more than 5 years old. I’m kind of sorry I didn’t get to play with him," writer James Dodson says.
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